Automobile heater construction



AUTOMOBILE HEATER CONSTRUCTION Filed May 21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR W8. A 2% lwi C WWW ATTORNEY Aug. 18, 1942. g, E, HAN; 2,293,543

AUTOMOBILE HEATER CONS TRUGTION Filed May 21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 18, 1942 UNITED STATES. earner orries AUTOMOBILE HEATER CONSTRUCTION Edmund E. Hans, Detroit, Mich.

Application May 21, 1940, Serial No. 336,484

4 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide means for conducting outside air through an opening in the vehicle cowl to the heater unit within the car.

A further object of my invention is to provide air conducting means, as above described, which may be quickly and conveniently installed in existing cars. The conventional cowl ventilator is provided with a door or coverwhich may be closed from within the car in case of rain or in the winter time. Such doors are usually hinged to the under side of the cowl, and the hinge arms and door operating device have in the past made the installation of any air conductor from the cowl opening very difficult. My improved air conductor is adapted to form a substantially air tight seal with the cowl opening and with these several arms and still not interfere with their operation or set up rattles therewith. The cowl ventilator door may, therefore, be opened or closed at will after installation of this air conductor.

To accomplish these purposes I provide a flexible fabric conducting tube with means secured thereto for quickly and securely fastening same to the edge of the cowl opening. This tube is also provided with slots therein and fabric portions for attaching around the hinge arms and operating device.

This tube is provided with a transverse slit therein, to the edges of which is secured a zipper type fastener so that the slit may be quickly opened or closed. When opened, outside air enters directly into the car and when closed" the air is conducted into the heater.

An added important. function of this fabric tube is that when it begins to rain the water entering the cowl opening strikes against the fabric tubeand is absorbed thereby so that it is not blown against the occupants feet. This is very important because the car operator is usually busy for a minute or two after the rain starts in closing the windows, etc. My fabric conductor will absorb a considerable amount of rain before becoming saturated, thereby permitting the operator to first close the other openings and still not permit rain to annoy the passengers. Fabric with an outside rubber coating is used so that air is prevented from filtering through the conductor. If desired non-absorbent fabric may be used, and the rain drawn into the heater where it vaporizes upon contact with the radiator.

With these and other objects in View, my invention consists in the arrangement and construcextends rearwardly from a dash H.

II] is provided with a rectangular shaped opening specification, claimed in my claims and shown I2 therein, and a channel I3 is formed in the material of the cowl around this opening. A gasket I4 of sponge rubber is cemented into the channel I3 and a door I5'is positioned over the opening I2, the edges of which co-act with the gasket I4 to form a water tight closure for the cowl opening. A screen It is positioned across the cowl opening beneath the door I5.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that an arcuate plate I! is fixed to the under side of the door' I5 and extends inwardly through the opening I2.

A pair of brackets I8 are fixed to the under side of the cowl land a strip of flat sheet steel I9 is bent to a U-shape with the ends pivoted at 20 to the brackets I8 and with its center portion spot welded to the plate Il. Thus,'when the strip I9 is moved upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1, the door I5 will be raised to 'thereby uncover the ventilator opening I2.

An ear 2| is welded to the forward face of the plate I! to which an operating link 22 is pivotally secured. A support 23 is fastened to the dash I I and a plate 24 has one end secured to the support 23 with its other end extending rearwardly;

A V shaped brace 25 extends from said other end upwardly to the brackets I8 to which its upper end is secured by the pivot pins 20. Theplate 24 is thus supported in fixed position beneath the cowl.

An operating arm 26 is pivotally mounted at 21 to the plate 24 and is pivotally connected to tion of the device disclosed, as described in the 55 the lower end of the link 22, so that when the arm 26 is pushed forward and downward the link 22 is urged upwardly to thereby swing the door I5 out around the pivots 2E). The door I5 may thus be opened or closed from within the car.

A heating device is fixed to the dash ll be- The cowl neath the cowl opening l2, which device comprises a housing 28 having a radiator core 29 positioned fiatwise therein. A fan 38 is fixed in the upper part of the housing 28 and draws air from the top of the heater, forcing it through the core 29 from which it is discharged rearwardly along the floor of the car by means of a nozzle 3|. No claim is made herein to the heating device, per se, as this invention relates to means for conducting air from the opening I2 to the above described heater.

The difficulty experienced in the past with all conductors for this purpose has been that the operating arms and hinge arms for the ventilator door swung in such arcs as to make it impossible to design a substantially air tight construction which would permit these movements. I have a fraction of the time required to install other conductors in similar locations.

Further, the conductor cannot set up rattles with the various operating rods and hinge arms. Still further, the fabric, being water absorbent, will absorb a considerable amount of rain before becoming saturated, to thereby permit the leiovercome these problems by providing a fabric 1 conductor sewed to form a rectangular shaped box 32, the upper side of which is open. .A cylindrical sleeve 40 is provided in the bottom of this conductor into which a metal tube 33 is secured. This tube is supported from the dash in position above the air intake opening in the heater. The means for fastening the conductor to the underside of the cowl is shown in Fig. 3, from which it will be noted that a rectangular frame 31 is sewed into the rim of the conductor, which frame fits against the bottom of the channel I3. A plurality of clips are fastened around the frame, each clip comprising a guide member 34 having a hooked member reciprocally mounted therein. A spring 35 urges the hook member downwardly towards the guide. Each hook member extends through the fabric of the conductor inside of the frame 31.

When installing the conductor it is only necessary to place the frame 31 against the cowl and then successively compress the clips so that the hooked ends may be clipped over the upturned edge of the channel l3. after retain the conductor in position.

The fabric conductor member 32 is provided with three slots therein which extend through the frame 31 so that the hinge strips l9 and link 22 may be accommodated. The conductor is inserted in place with the hinges and link extending into these slots. A U shaped fabric strip 4| is sewed to the edges of each slot, which material is wrapped around each of the hinge arms and the link and then permanently secured in place. These U shaped strips overlap sufiiciently to make a substantially air tight construction. When the ventilator is being opened or closed the portions of the fabric which are secured to the link and hinges move with these members, but this does not materially afiect the shape of the conductor. When the ventilator is open, air is thus blown down into the tube 33 from which it is discharged directly into the fan 38. Soft -wire re-inforcing may be sewed into the outer hem of each U shaped piece so that when wrapped around the arms the fabric will stay in place. An outer strap may also be used.

In the summer time it is quite desirable to use the ventilator without passing the air through the heater. To accomplish this I provide a transverse slit 38 in the rear face of the box and sew a zipper type fastener to the edges of this slit. When the slit is open, air will be discharged from the conductor directly on the passengers.

Among the many advantages arising from the use of my improved construction, it may be well to mention that the conductor may be installed in The springs 36 theresurely closing of the ventilator after it has begun to rain.

Some changes may be made in the arrangement and shape of the various parts of my improved device without departing from the spirit of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims such changes as may reasonably be included within the scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an automobile body having an apertured cowl, a door pivoted on the latter to close said aperture, a plate integral with the door, an operating arm mounted for movement beneath the cowl, and a system of levers including a plurality of elements separately connected to said plate, said levers being also connected to said operating arm whereby movement of the latter imparts movement to the door, the combination of a fabric conductor member in the form of an open-top bag, a frame around the open top of said conductor member, means securing said frame to the underside of the cowl around said opening to make an airtight joint, the conductor member having an opening therethrough, a tube mounted in said opening and projecting from said conductor member, said frame and said conductor member having slots formed therein from the open top of the latter, an outwardly projecting U-shaped fabric strip secured to said member extending around both sides and the bottom of each slot, each of said elements extending through a separate slot and one of the U-shaped strips being wrapped around each element to prevent leakage of air from the conductor member through the slots and around the elements.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, including a flexible wire carried by and extending around the outer margin of each fabric strip wrapped around the element which extends through the adjacent slot to retain the wrapped strip in intimate contact with its element.

3. In an automobile body having an apertured cowl and an annular channel around said aperture, the combination of a fabric conductor member in the form of an open-top bag, a frame around the open top of the conductor member bearing against the underside of said channel, a plurality of hooked members the hooks of which engage the margin of the channel so that the members depend therefrom, guide members bearing against the underside of the frame through which the hooked members extend, and spring means carried by the hooked members beneath the guide members urging the latter into intimate contact with the underside of said frame and retaining the latter in engagement with the underside of the channel, and a tube outlet extending from the conductor member.

4. In an automobile body having an apertured cowl and an annular channel around said aperture, the combination of a fabric conductor member in the form of an open-top bag, said conductor member having an opening therethrough, a tube mounted in said opening and projecting from the conductor member, a frame around the open top of the conductor member bearing against the underside of said channel, a plurality of hooked members engaging the outer annular margin of the channel and depending therefrom, a guide member vertically slidable on each hooked member, each guide member having a flexed upper extremity bearing against the underside of the frame and a flexed lower extremity, a helical spring on each hooked member, means on each of the latter supporting the lower extremity of its spring, and the upper extremity of each spring bearing against the flexed lower extremity of one of the guide members and urging the flexed upper extremity of that guide member into intimate contact with the frame and the latter against said channel.

EDMUND E. HANS. 

